Secret
by IsaBella Sapphire
Summary: I mixed about 30 books together to create this story so I do own it. It sounded kind of like Twilight so I put it under Twilight. I think it's pretty good. So give it a chance!
1. New

_**Rosaline**_

Catherine, my 24-year-old sister, left for work before I even got up. She works at Rancho Bernardo Inn and she seemed to be making a fortune. Cathy had a big, beautiful house with an ocean view. She had a room full of jewels and also a BMW M3. Catherine Sapphire was so rich and beautiful. No wonder mom and dad made me come to San Diego, California to live with her. My mom, Emma Sapphire, once said that Cathy was the most perfect girl she'd ever seen in her life. My dad, Robert Sapphire, told me I should be more like Cathy. In my parents' mind, I'm just an ordinary girl and Catherine was the perfect, everybody-would-love princess.

I have to admit, San Diego was more comfortable than Las Vegas, Nevada, where I used to live. It was much cooler and less crowded. I arrived at San Diego on Saturday and I loved it instantly.

After grabbing an apple from the fridge, I quickly got in my BMW Z3. Cathy got me a brand new car as a welcome gift.

I arrived at my school, San Diego High. It looked very new. I saw all the students from San Diego High coming into the school parking lot. Hopefully, they were nice enough to help a girl that got transferred to this school in mid-October as a junior.

Getting out of my car was hard! Maybe I was too nervous to get out of it. It felt like every pair of eyes was on me when I finally got out of the car. It was so _creepy_!

Quickly, I half-ran to the front office. I got my schedule and walked to the cafeteria benches. My schedule was English, History, Pre-Calculus, Science, lunch, Spanish, Band, and PE. It was almost my exact schedule as Las Vegas High, except back home, PE was first and English was last. I memorized my whole schedule before the bell rang. When it did, I hurried to English. My teacher assigned me to a seat right next to a boy with pale skin and green eyes.

"Hi," I said to the boy.

"Hello," he replied. He grinned at me and showed his perfect teeth. He is breath-taking because of his perfection. Everything about him is totally perfect! "I'm Alexander Emerald. You can call me Alex," he told me.

"I'm Rosaline Sapphire," I explained, "but I go by Rose or Rossi." I couldn't get my eyes off Alex's perfect face. He was so perfect in all ways. He was perfect, friendly, kind, and open. His green eyes looked like emerald, sparking with excitement. His skin was really pale, smooth, and it looked hard. Alexander was in perfect shape. He looked like a piece of artwork done by an artist who loved perfection.

"Rosaline," the English teacher called. "Would you please answer the question?" Oh no! I didn't hear the question! How am I supposed to answer without making a fool of myself?

"Umm…" I hesitated. Luckily, Alex told me the right answer.

"Very well," the teacher approved.

English was not my best subject, but I usually get A's if I was listening and working hard. Through years of getting A minuses, I discovered that if I read the literature ahead of time, I would get an A wile I worked as much as everybody else.

Next period was History. I sat with Alex again. In fact, I sat with Alex for all the periods except for Spanish and Band. Of course I couldn't sit with Alex during PE, but he was in my class.

During Spanish and Band, I sat with a boy named Jackson Eyre. He was nice, but he somehow felt ancient. Maybe it was just me, I don't really know. He had black hair and violet eyes. His skin looked pale, but not as pale as Alex's. Jackson's skin was soft but muscular. He looked well in shape, too. Jack and I both played the clarinet and I figured without much work that he was really good at music.

The first day of school wasn't bad at all! I met two friends, at least. I was so tired when I got home partly because we did PE outside instead of in the gym. I went to bed early. Maybe my junior year here won't be as bad as I thought before I came here!

_**Alexander**_

I sat in the car with my brother and my sisters. It was hard being a Mortal Vampire. My family was a special kind of vampire. Most vampires, the normal ones, have golden eyes, pale, icy skin, and venom-covered teeth. They often feed on human blood, killing them at once when they hunt. For us, the Mortal Vampires, we have a different story.

Most vampires were created when a vampire bit their human body. Venoms would spread and within days, the human's heart would stop and their skin would turn pale and hard and their eyes would turn golden. For a mortal vampire, when their human body was poisoned with venom, a kind of gene in their body would fight the venom. Then, they only have two endings: die or become a Mortal Vampire. However, the people who have the kind of genes were very little, and the odds of becoming a Mortal Vampire were one out of a hundred. There were only three covens of Mortal Vampire in the world, and they were the 'out cast' of the vampire world.

My family and I were Mortal Vampires. Like the others, we live forever and never die or age. But we have green eyes or blue eyes, depending on the genes. Out skin were softer than the normal vampires. We only feed on animal blood because once we tried human blood, we won't be able to control ourselves from taking more. Mortal Vampires could have child after getting married. But once a male Mortal Vampire had kids with a female, both vampires could not have kids with other vampires. The child grew like the human children until they got to about eighteen. Then they froze at what ever age they were and live a vampire life.

My parents, Carlos and Emily Emerald, were my and my siblings' biological father and mother. Michael was the eldest, followed by the triplet girls: Jennifer, Isabel, and Casey. I was the youngest. Michael looked nineteen, the triplets looked eighteen, and I was frozen in seventeen forever. Most Mortal Vampires wasn't born with a gift. Only normal vampires could have been gifted. And they only would have one gift. But for some reason, I was born with two special powers.

I was able to tell if a person was lying about something they said. Also, I could hear what a person was thinking about is I have eye-contact with them.

Michael was behind the wheel, driving too slow for the vampires- fifty miles per hour. Jennifer sat in the front talking rapidly to Michael. I sat in the back with Isabel and Casey. I was trying to get Casey to look at me so I could read her mind, but I got bored after a wile. Now was the time when I wish I could sleep during day-time. Normal vampires don't sleep at all. But we sleep only when the night falls. We could live without sleeping, but what do you do at night? Popping up and down the street and scare people?

Finally, we arrived at San Diego High. Normal vampires don't appear here in San Diego because they sparkle under the sun. But it was not true for us.

I sat in English by myself at my own desk. I was smarter than any human because of how my brain works. I reviewed my notes again even though I could already memorize them backwards.

"Hi," a new voice called to me. My head snapped right up. In front of me stood a girl with pale skin, shiny blackish-brown hair, and chocolaty-brown eyes. I could see the blood racing through her veins under her skin. I could feel her heart beating. It was a smart choice to hunt yesterday.

"Hello," I said, smiling. "I'm Alexander Emerald. You can call me Alex."

"I'm Rosaline Sapphire. But I go by Rose or Rossi," she explained. Rose was making eye-contact with me, but her voice was not clear like the others were. Instead, it sounded like a murmur, a whisper that I couldn't hear. I heard the word 'perfect' several times.

"Rosaline, would you please answer the question?" the teacher asked impatiently. Rose seemed lost in her daydream. Mr. Liner, our English teacher, just asked a question. I didn't hear it, but I found Mr. Liner's eyes and stole the question.

"William Shakespeare," I whispered. Rose got it right.

Rose sat by me for all the classes except for Spanish and Band, when I took French and Drama. During PE, Jackson Eyre's mind bothered me. _Rosaline is so pretty,_ he thought. _Maybe she will go out with me. She seemed really happy, too. I bet she taste good._

My jaw tightened up. I have the first sight and I loved her! Rose would be mine, not for a meal, but for a girlfriend.

_**Jackson**_

Why is it so hard being me? I hate me! I have to live on people's happiness! Life is so unfair!

Two centuries ago, my family and I were killed by our enemy. Because our deaths were undeserved, we became ghosts. We have a specific kind of gene that made us became Humanly Ghosts. We were almost like humans except we could pass thorough things and were able to be invisible whenever we wanted. We survived by sucking people's happiness, leaving them with unpleasant memories. When I got changed into a ghost, I had a special talent: I could take any human's body I wanted and control the body. I would hypnotize the body's spirit when I go into the body. After I leave the body, the spirit would still be asleep for about an hour. The body would still breathe and the heart would keep on going, but the spirit won't return within an hour. My little sister, Zella, was also gifted. Zella could go into a person's body and suck as much happiness as she wanted. But wile she feed, the victim would be asleep. Actually, the victim would faint the second Zella entered the body. The other members of my family, my dad Joe, my mom Sammy, and my middle brother Bobby, have no additional powers to their immortal self.

School was just the same-old-everyday thing. Nothing caught my eyes until Spanish. A new girl sat by me. She looked pretty and happy. She had the sent of a person I knew long ago. Could she be Rosemary? Rosemary Pearl?

She would probably taste fantastic, though. My mouth was watering but my heart was in love with this beautiful figure. Should I take away the happiness from a person I truly love?


	2. Accident

_**Rosaline**_

I met some other friends during my first week of school. Alicia Jones, a girl from Band, became my best friend. Well, maybe not best friend, but a good friend. I sat with Alicia at lunch everyday. She introduced me to her friends. Jessica Pearl, one of Alicia's friends, was asking me a lot about Alex.

"I've always wanted to talk to Alex," Jess told me. "Alex was friendly to people, but he never talked much."

"Really?" I asked in surprise. "Alex looked quite open to me. He likes talking. He called me last night and chitchatted with me for a long of time!"

"Wow. Are you serious, Rose? The Emeralds never talk to people long!" Jess told me.

"So do you like Jackson Eyre?" Ella Mia, another friend of Alicia, asked me.

"Kind of," I admitted. The girls let out some 'oos' in surprise. "Not like that!" I protested. "I kind of like him as a brother. He looked like one of my cousins."

Jack did call me a few times during the weekend, wondering if I wanted to walk down to the park or drive down to the beach. I very much wished I could, but I had to go to the pool with Cathy so that she could 'train' me. Cathy and I basically spent all day at the pool and all evening at home doing homework.

San Diego was my favorite place now. People here were all so nice! They were all helpful and hospitable! Students in my school were great and all the staffs were there for you when you needed them.

The bell rang for Spanish and I quickly hurried to the classroom. Jack was there early, as usual. His lips curled into a wide grin the second I entered the room.

"Hi, Rose! How was your weekend?" Jack asked friendly.

"It was tiring," I told him.

"How so?"

"Well, Cathy wanted me to work out at the pool no matter how much homework I have. So I stayed in or close to the water all day. Then I have to do my homework all night and Cathy always has people call her, and… you really don't need to know this. I'm talking too much."

"Not really," Jackson said, keeping his perfect, breath-taking smile. "I liked hearing your story!" The Spanish teacher came in then and everything went silent.

Jack walked me to band, but left me going to PE alone because his younger brother, Bobby, wanted to talk to him. Walking to PE was boring without Jack. The short distance from the band room to the locker room seemed longer than usual.

As I approached the locker room, the wind started to pick up around me. Cool wind brushed against my skin, but it wasn't pleasant. There was rough stuff in the wind, kind of like the wind has a rough edge. Then, suddenly, a shadow, big and icy, rushed toward me. It came closer and closer to run me over. Before I had a chance to scream or even gasp, a strong wind went through me as if a knife made out of ice stabbed me in the heart. I felt out of breath and light-headed. My vision went black as I fell into the endless hole of blackness.

_**Alexander**_

A group of people was circling something in front of the girls' locker room.

"What is going on?" I heard Ella's voice asked.

"We don't know," Jessica told her. "Well, I don't know."

I hurried toward the crowd, trying to catch someone's eyes to figure out what was happening. As I approached, I saw Rossi's limp body lying on the black-top.

"What happened?" I asked. My words came out faster and louder than I thought. It wasn't even close to human speed. Rose seemed to be breathing and her heart was beating weakly.

"I don't know," Alicia explained. "She was walking to the locker room, but she fainted for no good reason." She was telling the truth mostly, but the 'no good reason' part was not true. There _is_ a good reason to this, only nobody knew.

The nurse came then with two students behind her. The students were carrying a stretcher. I caught the eyes of one of the student behind the nurse, Eddie Mug. _What happened to Rosaline?_ he wondered. _I hope she's okay. Rose looked really sick, though. She doesn't even seem to be breathing! I hope she's not dead. It will be too bad if she died since she's so beautiful and lovely! I didn't get a chance to ask her out or to a dance yet. _For the first time in my life, I felt jealousy. It was so strong and uncomfortable and _weird_! I'm angry with envy and I had to control myself to not kill little, fragile Eddie. It was too hard! Without thinking, I took off to the parking lot.

_**Jackson**_

"Jack!" Bob waved and called to me. "Come here!"

"Ugh!" I was so annoyed by my younger siblings. Bob and Zella never let me rest! They always find a way to bother me.

"You want to go?" Rose offered. I didn't want to leave Rose on the way to PE. She was so interesting to hang out with! Although she made my mouth water, I think I could handle being with her without making her my lunch if I really tried.

"Jack!" Bob called again.

"I'll meet you at PE," I told Rose. Then, I flew to Bobby. "What?"

"Zella's in trouble!" he told me, his violet eyes full with worries. Bob loved his sister. He was always so protective with her!

"How?" I asked. We both turned invisible to human eyes as we talked.

"Zella was hungry, you know. She can't control her hunger that well. She is still young, so don't get mad at her." Bobby always explains the situation first so that Zella won't get in any kind of trouble. "Zella told me that your… girlfriend… looked yummy. She said that she smelled sweet and sugary because she's so happy all the time. I could smell her, too. She smelled better than anyone else. So Zella wanted to go into Rosa's body and suck her happiness. She already went…"

"What? She went?" I couldn't believe my ears! Zella promised me over the weekend that she would not hunt Rossi! She betrayed me! How dare she? _No problem, Jack,_ she had said to me. _I will never ever hunt your little human girlfriend. She's going to be fine. I won't suck her happiness or anything like that, no matter how good she sounded, and smelled, and looked. _

I took off running, still invisible to the human eyes. I could feel Bobby behind me, trying to catch up.

"Jack! Stop! Please forgive her!" Bobby pleaded.

"No! She promised me," I snapped.

I reached the nurse's office and flew in from the window. There, Rose laid, her heart weak. I could see Zella inside Rosa's body, sucking her sweet, tempting happiness. "Zella Erica Eyre!" The words slipped out of my tight-closed teeth. Zella's head snapped up. She seemed full and happy. "Get out of her body right now!" I ordered. I probable looked scary because Zella's eyes were wide with fear when she came out of Rose's body. Rose didn't wake up, which was perfectly normal. But her heart was suddenly stronger.

Zella followed me all the way to the field next to the parking lot with Bob beside her. I ordered Bob away when we got there. The second Bob was out of site, my palm flew across Zella's face. She fell to the ground, one hand over her cheek. Tears started to run down her face. "You know what you did to deserve this," I said coldly over her light sob. "Now tell me why exactly you sucked Rose's happiness." My order was like a stab in the heart for me- sucking Rose's happiness.

"I'm sorry," Zella choked out. "I'm really sorry."

"I'm not asking for apology," I reminded her.

"I was too hungry," she said. "I couldn't control myself. You should know about that." I did know that part. The younger a person was when they became a ghost, the harder it would be to control his or her hunger. Zella was only fourteen when she was turned, so it was harder for her than the rest of the Eyre family.

"But you promised," I told her.

"I know. But she's so delicious!"

"Just so you know, if you do things like this ever again, I will kill you!" Zella looked really frightened. Her face was whiter than usual. Her light-brown braids rested on her left shoulder and her loose hair divided her face, still beautiful even now, into irregular pieces. "You can go now," I whispered.

Zella lifted her skinny, perfect body from the ground and, still shaking, walked away toward the opposite direction of where Bobby stood, watching…


	3. Truth

_**Alexander**_

It had been four hours since Rose fainted, and she still hadn't woke up yet. Now she was in the emergency room. An air mask covered her mouth and nose. She was fine, but she was not waking up. Catherine Sapphire came into the hospital an hour ago, after finishing her work. _Why do I have to take care of her?_ Catherine thought when her eyes met mine. _She's not even my real sister! She's adopted! I wonder why mom would adopt her anyways. They even changed her name from Rosemary Pearl to Rosaline Sapphire! Why would they adopt her when they already have perfect, beautiful me? It's so unfair that I have to take care of her. I'm going to get a smaller share of everything because of her. I just wish she would die today. That way I'll be who I've always wanted to be in years- a single child that get everything. _

Catherine's thoughts made me mad. _She wanted Rose to Die?_ But now I knew Rose was adopted. Her name was Rosemary Pearl. Her blood somehow smelled like Jessica's. I wondered if she had any relationship with Jessica Pearl.

The window opened then and cool winds came into the room. Jackson was floating in front wile Bobby followed closely behind. "Why did you hurt Zella?" Bobby asked angrily.

Jackson replied without looking, "She deserved it. She took happiness away from Rose." So that was what had happened! Zella Eyre fed on Rose! How dare she feed on my girl?

"But Jack," Bobby wined, "Zella was hungry! She couldn't control herself! Besides, you hurt your family member who loved you for more than two centuries over a little human girl who you just met for about one week!"

"And I loved her. Rose was the only thing that really matters to me right now," Jackson snapped. So Jackson Eyre loved my girl. I thought I was the only one who loved her. I thought Jackson just wanted to have her for a meal or something like that.

"You are unbelievable!"

"Thank you."

"Why do you love a human? You chose her over your sister?"

"If that was what you thought than yes," Jackson said coldly. I couldn't talk to Jackson now. I just couldn't. Not when he was invisible. If I talk to him now I would give away our secret. Also, I wouldn't trust myself to stay calm around my enemy. He became my enemy just then even though the Emeralds and the Eyres were friends. He stole my girl. Rosaline was already mine!

Jackson's eyes scanned the room before it landed on me. Our eyes met and it stayed there for a minute. _What is Alexander looking at?_ Jackson thought. He knew about my powers already. What was in his head? He should have known that I'm reading his mind. He was so stupid. _Anyways, I love Rosaline no matter what. But this is really abnormal. Zella went into her and now she's not waking up! Did she have the immortal gene? If she did than Zella's in so much trouble! If she has the gene, she might never wake up! Oh no! I don't want to loose her. I don't care if she's Rosaline Sapphire or Rosemary Pearl. I don't care if she's Catherine's sister or Jessica's. I just wanted her! She can't leave me!_ How did he know that Rose's real name was Rosemary? And did he say Rossi was Jessica's sister?

With a voice that no human could hear, I murmured to Jackson, "Let's go outside and you can explain things to me." And then I turned to the door. Jackson followed unwillingly.

When we got to our secret place- the forest behind San Diego High- I stopped and turned to Jackson quickly. He almost bumped into me.

"Tell me now," I ordered.

"What's there to tell?" he asked.

"Let's start by what Zella did to Rose," I suggested.

"Fine. Zella was hungry and she couldn't control herself. She went into Rossi's body and sucked her happiness. Bob reported her behavior to me and I went and ordered her out of Rose's body. I slapped her across the face in the school parking lot and she swore to never suck Rose's happiness again. The end." He was annoyed. I could tell. But I was glad that he told the truth.

"Now tell me about Rosemary Pearl," I ordered. "How did you know that Rosemary is Jessica's sister?"

Jackson frowned at me, but he told me anyways. "My family used to live in the Pearls' old house like real ghosts. Samantha Pearl got married with Patrick Pearl and had Jeffery first. Then, a year later, they had Jessica and Rosemary, the fraternal twins. They couldn't afford two more girls so they chose Jessica over Rosemary. They sent Rosemary to the children's shelter and Rosemary got adopted into the Sapphires' house and was renamed Rosaline. Then the Sapphires moved to Nevada with their older daughter, Catherine, and young Rosemary. The Pearls treated Jessica well and had enough money to afford Jessica and Jeffery. Day by day, the Pearls got richer and they had another girl three years after the twins were born. They named her Shannon. They could afford all three children and you know the rest. I remembered Rosemary's sent, the only scent that I remembered. I thought I would never see her again. But last Monday, Rosaline sat next to me in Spanish, and I smelled the sent that I thought I would never smell again. She smelled exactly like Rosemary, and no two people who ever existed have the same sent. I wasn't sure that she was Rosemary though, but I hope so. Then, I saw Rose's brilliant chocolate eyes and suddenly I was sure she was Rosemary.

"The reason I remember Rosemary's sent so well all these years was because I loved her the first time I saw her. I loved her when she was a baby. I loved her more than anyone did. I was so depressed after Rosemary left the house that I thought I could follow her sugary sent all the way to Nevada. But I couldn't. I wished I could, though. Rose was the one I wanted and she's only mine. I feel a responsibility with her. She's mine to watch over and I'm the one who's going to take care of her for her life. I didn't want Zella to touch her because she's mine and only mine. I want the best for her. I loved her.

"But Zella betrayed me. She took her happiness away from her, from my Rosemary. It hurt me more than it hurt Rose to see her happiness taken away from her. She deserves happiness and I wanted, as I said, the best for her. Now I know you love her, but she's mine. You can have Rosaline if it's just Rosaline Sapphire, but Rosemary Pearl is mine!" Jackson got too worked over this. His violet eyes were shaking with anger wile he said his lines.

"But I love Rosaline," I told him.

"As I said, you can take Rosaline. But Rosemary's mine," he repeated.

Bobby stepped in then. With a harsh voice, he said to me, "Leave my brother alone! He found his long lost love. He was so depressed for a decade after Rosemary left that he was practically silent! Now he found his love. Just let him have her!"

"It's none of your business, kid!" I told him.

"Oh you're calling me a kid? I'm one and a half century older than you!" Bobby's words left me speechless for a long time.

"Just so you know," I told Jackson, "no matter how close our families are, you'll always be my enemy as long as you keep on loving Rosaline. She's my girl!" And then I walked away without looking back.

_**Jackson**_

Bob bugged me for four hours straight after he saw me slap Zella. "You are choosing Rose over your sister!" Bob yelled at me.

"I know," I said quietly.

"Do you think it's worth it?" he asked.

Without thinking, I blabbed out, "Yes. It is worth it. If it's for Rosaline, then it won't be. But she's Rosemary Pearl, my one love I lost seventeen years ago. I really love her, and Zella won't let me have her."

"You are pathetic!" Bob muttered.

I flew through the window of the hospital and entered Rose's room. There she lied, not waking up. What was wrong with her? Normal people wake up an hour after Zella exited their body. It had been four hours now, and Rose wasn't waking up. She was just lying there motionless. If I wasn't a ghost, I would have thought that she was dead.

I scanned the room. It was full of people. Alicia was standing in the corner with her friends: Ella, Sammy, and Mike. Jessica and her siblings, Jeffery and Shannon, were standing in another corner. My eyes rested on them for a brief second and turned away. After all, Rosemary is Jessica's twin, so I couldn't help to look. Catherine Sapphire was by the bed, acting worried. I could see for myself that Cathy didn't really like Rose that much since Rose was adopted, but she acted worried to show the others. I kept on scanning the room, and before long, Alexander Emerald's face came into view.

Alexander Emerald? What in the world was he doing here? Alexander's eyes stared at me, having eye-contact with me. _What is Alexander looking at? Anyways, I love Rosaline no matter what. But this is really abnormal. Zella went into her and now she's not waking up! Did she have the immortal gene? If she did than Zella's in so much trouble! If she has the gene, she might never wake up! Oh no! I don't want to loose her. I don't care if she's Rosaline Sapphire or Rosemary Pearl. I don't care if she's Catherine's sister or Jessica's. I just wanted her! She can't leave me! _I thought to myself. I detached my eyes from Alex's. Suddenly, I realized what he was looking at- he was reading my mind.

"Let's go outside and you can explain things to me," Alex said in a voice so low that only immortals could hear. I followed him unwillingly. It was like Alex had some weird power other than listing to people's thoughts. It was like he could control people's mind! I didn't want to move my feet, but they just moved by themselves.

When we got to our secret place, Alex stopped and turned around. He asked me to tell him about Rosemary Pearl, so I told him Rose's story from when she was born, to when the Pearls' chose Jessica over Rosemary, to the Sapphires adopted Rose, to the point when I smelled the familiar, sugary sent again. I told him that he could have Rosaline Sapphire, but Rosemary Pearl would be mine. Then, Alex swore that he would be enemies with me as long as I kept on loving Rose.

Alex turned away and rushed back to the hospital. I followed him without any trouble. I flew through the window again and into Rose's room. Nothing changed at all in the room. It was like time had frozen the second Alex and I went out of the room. Perhaps we were just too quick that they didn't have a chance to live. After all, we think of minutes as hours and seconds as minutes. Our talk had only lasted for about ten seconds, so the humans had no time to really move around that much.

Rosemary was getting stronger every second. I could feel it. She would probably wake up soon, and I'll be the first one to know when she would open her beautiful chocolaty eyes.


	4. Shock

_**Rosaline**_

My feelings started to retrieve. I could feel myself lying on a bed somewhere. I was glad that my feelings came back. But now, I felt suddenly very cold. I couldn't move at all! It was as if I was frozen inside an ice cube.

After a long time passed, the ice started to melt. I could feel the warmth coming back to me. I was glad. When the ice cube completely melt away, Alex's voice came into my head. _Is Rose okay? Why wasn't she waking up? _Alex was here? Why would he be anyways?

I searched the muscle that controlled my eyelids. Finally, I found what I was looking for. My eyes flew open and, after hours of darkness, I saw light once again. I saw Catherine standing next to me. Some nurses stood next to my bed. The Pearls stood in one corner while Alicia and her friends stood in the corner across from the Pearls. I still felt weak, but at least I was awake. _Exactly how long have I been asleep? _I wondered.

_Finally, after four and a half hours, she woke up!_ Jessica's voice said. I sat up in the bed after the nurses pulled the air mask off. I looked at Jess in surprise. She didn't look like she said something.

"What happened?" I asked the question that most people ask when they woke up after they fainted.

"You fainted on the way to PE," Alicia rushed to my side and explained.

"We thought something was wrong with you, but nothing was," Jess said.

_Ugh! _Cathy's voice came into my head. Why do voices keep on coming in my head? Why do I hear voices of people when they were not talking at all? _I guess my wish didn't come true. I was so stupid I thought it would._

_Rosemary Pearl. Is Rose really one of the Pearls? I don't think so, _Alex said. This was getting really weird. And who was Rosemary Pearl? Jessica's sister?

After the nurses checked me from head to toe and the doctor said a bunch of things that I didn't understand, they finally let me go. I felt really tired and weak so I went to bed early that night after doing my homework even though I slept for an extra four hours in the hospital.

The next day, I went to school as usual. Alex was waiting for me in the parking lot by his car. _Rosemary Pearl. Rose doesn't look like Rosemary. She looked more Rosaline to me. She smelled like Rosaline, too. _Alex was whispering to himself without moving his lips. I wonder how I could hear that.

I walked toward Alex. He smiled at me as I approached.

"Hi," I said to him.

"How are you feeling today?" Alex asked whole-heartedly.

"I'm okay now," I told him.

_Rosemary, _he was saying that name again.

"I'm sorry; do you have something to tell me?" I asked.

"Umm... No. Why?" He seemed confused. _Did she hear what I was thinking? That's impossible, _he thought.

"I know. That's impossible," I replied.

"What?" _Can she read my mind? It sounded like she could._

"Yeah! It's exactly like I can read your mind!" I said in surprise.

"Really?" Alex was shocked, too.

"Now tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Who's Rosemary?" I asked curiously.

"You don't know?"

I nodded.

After a long pause, Alex finally said, "Rosaline. Rosemary is standing right in front of me!"

I looked around me and around Alex. Then, I suddenly realized something unbelievable. "Me?" I whispered.

"Yes." He nodded.

"But I'm Rosaline Sapphire, not Rosemary Pearl. I have nothing to do with Jessica or Jeffery or Shannon," I told him. "I want the whole story, Alex."

He hesitated, but spat the whole story out anyways. "First of all, I didn't know what was going on. Jackson told me the whole story. I have no responsibility for the truth quality of the story.

"You were born a year after Jeffery Pearl was born. Jessica is your twin. Your parents couldn't afford you so they give you to the children's shelter. The Sapphires adopted you and that was basically it." The story was shorter and simpler than I thought.

"How did Jackson know?" I asked.

"Umm…" _How am I supposed to reply? Just tell him Jackson was a ghost or something? _Alex thought.

"Jackson's a ghost?" I was totally shocked by this point. "But how?"

"Jack's not a ghost!"

"Yes he is! You were thinking about how you could explain to me without letting me know that he is a ghost!" I corrected.

"Wow, Rose. You really are good at this," he approved. _Should I tell her I'm a vampire? Will she still like me? How come she can read my mind but I can't read hers? Life is so unfair!_

"Oh don't ever complain about life!" I told him. "And you are what? A vampire? Why is my life full of immortal stuff? Now even I'm not normal!"

Alex opened his mouth as if to say something, but the bell rang before the sound made it out of his mouth. We hurried to English then. He sat next to me as usual. But today, we weren't paying any attention to the lesson. We were passing notes.

I started the note passing. **What else are you hiding from me? **I wrote.

**Nothing really. If I am, you can just find out when you read my mind. **Alex wrote back.

**Tell me the whole immortal story at lunch, okay? I really want to know about abnormal people now that I am kind of one.**

**What about you come to my house today after school?** Alex suggested.

**Sure thing. Should I invite Jack? **

**No.** That was Alex's answer. I could see from his thinking that Jack was somehow his enemy now. I couldn't concentrate on him since the teacher asked me a question. I didn't hear it again, but I searched for it in his head, and I finally found it. I gave the correct answer.

The day was unbearable! It was like time had frozen! I couldn't stand the torture of the day any longer. The final bell was a great relief. I hope Alexander would tell me all the secrets. But if he doesn't, I would find out sooner or later. He probable would think about it some day, and I would be there to catch them.

_**Alexander**_

So Rosaline was Rosemary, and Rosemary was Jackson's long lost love. It doesn't even make cents! Jackson said I could have Rosaline but Rosemary was his. But Rosemary and Rosaline was the same person! Jackson was crazy! What was in his head? Garbage?

Jackson was invisible again when I got to school. Rose arrived shortly after I was there. She walked toward me.

"Hi," she said.

"How are you feeling today?" There were no other questions that made cents now.

"I'm okay now," she told me. It was a relief hearing that.

I was still thinking about Jackson's words. And at the same time, I tried to picture Rosaline as Rosemary Pearl.

"I'm sorry," Rose spoke. "Do you have something to tell me?"

Do I? "Umm… No. Why?" _It was like she could read my mind! That was impossible._

"I know. That's impossible," she murmured.

"What?" _Can she read my mind? It sounded like she could._

"Yeah! It's exactly like I can read your mind!" That was impossible! Totally wrong! How can a mortal read minds?

"Now tell me," she insisted.

"Tell you what?" I thought I know what she was asking about, though, since she could read my mind. This was so unfair! How come she gets to read my mind and I was still struggling with hers?

"Who's Rosemary?" Of course she would ask that.

"You don't know?"

She nodded.

What was I thinking? Of course she doesn't know. She was a baby at that time and babies doesn't remember anything. I don't even remember my baby years.

"Rosaline. Rosemary is standing right in front of me!"

Rose looked around her and me. Then finally, the answer popped into her head. She pointed at herself and carefully, she whispered, "Me?"

"Yes." I nodded slightly.

"But I'm Rosaline Sapphire, not Rosemary Pearl. I have nothing to do with Jessica or Jeffery or Shannon," she explained. "I want the whole story, Alex."

So I gave her an abridged version of Eyre's story. It came out shorter than I thought it would be. Also, before I told her the story, I clarified that Jackson told me the story.

"How did Jackson know?" Her tone was now more than curious. _How am I supposed to reply? Just tell him Jackson was a ghost or something?_

"Jackson's a ghost?" Disbelief. "But how?" I could hear from her voice that there would be no lies allowed from me.

"Jack's not a ghost!" I got to be more careful with my thoughts around Rose now that she could actually read my mind.

So I told her the truth that I was a vampire and Jackson was ghost. Also, we were passing notes during English and I unconsciously asked Rose over to my house this afternoon! Now, I could only hope Michael and the triplets were well fed and no one could hurt Rosaline. After all, what do I have left? Rosemary was Jackson's. My heart was shut down and hadn't beaten once since I was born. My brother was crazily in love with Alicia Jones. All I have left was Rosaline because she had stolen my dead heart.


	5. Visit

_**Rosaline**_

School finally passed. It seemed like it took for ever to end! I met up with Alex after I struggled to change into my tank top and shorts.

"So, do you want to ride with me so you could show me the way to your house?" I asked eagerly.

He hesitated, but finally said, "Umm… Sure. What ever you want."

We walked in silence to my car. I think I'm pretty fast at the whole reading-mind thing. I was able to tune the voices out completely and focus on my class works. I sat with Jessica at lunch as usual, but I couldn't look at her the way I used to. Who would expect us to be fraternal twins anyways? We looked nothing alike because of the fraternal part. I knew only Alex and Jack would know that I was a Pearl and not one of the Sapphires.

"So…" I said when we were out of the school parking lot. "Where do I go now?"

"Straight," he told me. _Life isn't fair! _he thought.

"Stop complaining!" I told him. "Life isn't fair for everybody! Do you think I would have been sent away if life was fair? No. If life _is_ fair, I would be living with real family now. I would know who my sisters and brother are. My real family."

"If life is fair," he snapped, "I would be able to hear your voice!"

"Is that what you were so mad over?" I asked him. "Well stop complaining. You are not making eye contact with me. So therefore, you won't be able to read my mind now even if you could any other time."

"Now turn right," he insisted. I put on my blinker and looked back for no reason at all. Then, something caught my eyes. It looked like Jackson but he looked see-though!

"Umm… Alex?" I whispered.

"Yes?"

"Is that Jackson on the back seat?" I was freaking out now.

Before Alex could answer, Jackson's friendly, familiar voice flowed inside my ears. "Hey! How come you can see me?"

"Jackson, what are you doing here?" I asked, too loud.

"What's Emerald doing here?" Jack pointed at Alex with his chin.

"I was going to Alex's house," I told him.

"So get out of the car!" Alex yelled.

"Oh common!" Jack pleaded angrily. "I already gave to Rosaline. What else do you want?"

"Wait a second, here," I hopped in. "What?"

"Didn't you find you about that part in my mind?" Alex asked.

"Rose can read minds?" Jack interrupted.

"Yeah. Everybody's but yours," I told him. "By the way, why can't I read your mind? And why can I see you?"

"Well, I'm not in human form yet, so I basically don't have a mind for you to read. And I guess you're sidekick now." Jack was lost in thoughts.

"Well can you at least reform into a human?" I asked.

"Oh, sure. Of course." The second Jackson became a 'human,' his thought came into my head. He mentioned about being enemies with Alex because they were fighting over Rosaline and Rosemary. He also mentioned the Halloween school dance.

"Why did you mention the dance?" I asked curiously.

"You really can read minds!" Jack almost yelled out the words. "Now that you mentioned it _out loud_, I wanted to ask you one thing. Can you go with me to the dance?"

"Hey, I was going to ask her!" Alex interrupted.

"Well, too bad!"

"Hey guys," I said. The air was getting heated in the car, so I rolled down the window to allow some fresh air to come in. "I'm not going to the dance. Jessica asked me to her Halloween slash birthday party, and I'm going to go since it was my birthday, too. You two are welcome to come. And now, Jackson, you have to leave because I'm going to Alex's. He didn't invite you."

"But Rose…" Jack pleaded.

"I'm sorry. But Alex needs to give me my answers. I need to know what was wrong with me. So you'll have to go."

Jack tried to say something, but stopped it midway. He reformed into a ghost and slipped through the window after throwing another sad look at me. He looked really hurt.

The second Jackson was out of earshot, Alex said to me, "Nice job, Rosa! You really did it! I thought you would let him stay or something."

"No, that would be rude. I'm going to your house because you invited me, but you didn't invite him. I have no right to let him come with us to your house. Plus, your thoughts were yelling at me with your 'Please! Don't let Jackson Eyre come with us! Please don't!'" Even though I said what I was supposed to say, I felt kind of sorry for treating Jack the way I treated him. His pleading look kept on appearing in my mind.

"So…" Alex broke the silence. "Do you want to go to the dance with me?"

"I thought I told you I was going to Jess's party." Was he listening to what I was saying all along?

"You really are going? It thought that was an excuse!"

"Well, it's not. And I need your help on something." How am I supposed to put this in an unselfish way?

Alex was looking patiently.

"Can you help me…" Oh my. This sounds wrong. I tried again. "Can you help me so that Jessica and Jeffery and Shannon know that I'm their sister? I know this sound selfish. And you probably have much more things to do than hang out with me. So the choice is yours. If you can't, I can always ask Jack." I rushed my words.

"No!" he yelled. I jumped a little bit. "Don't ask Jackson!"

"Calm down. Where am I supposed to turn?"

"Oh. Turn left right there."

I turned. "And then?"

"Turn right now."

I did what he said, and soon, I was driving up the hill. "Where is your house anyway?" I asked.

"On the very tip of the hill. You are already driving on my property." Wow! His land was big. Huge!

As I got closer to the top, the house started to show. It seemed like it was made of glass! I can see every detail inside this house. Jennifer, Isabel, and Casey sat in one sofa, blathering about something. Michael making a face at the girls before turning into the kitchen. A man and a woman came down the second floor, holding hands. They opened the fridge and got out two glasses of red liquid. I assumed that they are Mr. and Mrs. Emerald. They were all incredibly beautiful, yet pale, just like Alex.

"Park right over there," Alex spoke. I did what he ordered.

"C'mon!" he called wile opening the car door. I didn't move. Alex stopped. "Come on," he said again.

"What if they don't like me?" I asked.

"Oh they like you. I told them about you and they all liked you really much!" he comforted me.

I stepped out of my car, feeling awkward. "Alex?" He turned to look at me. "You are the only one who has a gift, right?" He nodded, smiling. "And they all hunted yesterday, right?" Let's not forget that I'm still human. There was blood flowing in my body. He nodded again. "Okay. Let's go."

The door opened before we touched the door bell. Well, of course you'll see people coming when your whole house is made out of glass. Casey was the one to open the door. By now, I could tell the triplets apart. From Alex's thought I knew that Jennifer's eyes were more of a blue color than green. Isabel's hair has a shade of orange in it. And Casey's hair was pure black.

_Is this Rosaline?_ Casey was looking straight into Alex's eyes. He nodded.

"Hi! Rose, right? I'm Casey. Nice to meet you!" She gave me her hand to shake. It felt like marble, so hard and cold. As we spoke, the rest of the Emeralds took their place behind Casey.

_Self control, Casey. Don't attack, _Mrs. Emerald thought.

_You can do it, Casey, _Jennifer and Isabel thought at the same time.

I released Casey's hand and moved into Alex's arm. Then, I felt my face blushed. "Sorry," I apologized.

"Oh. Mom. Dad. I forgot to tell you that Rose is kind of… gifted," Alex explained.

"Gifted?" Mrs. Emerald's musical voice spoke.

"After the accident yesterday, she can hear people's voices," Alex said sourly.

The rest of the Emeralds looked confused. I tried to explain this time. "I'm sorry for my rude behavior. It's just that I'm not used of being around immortals, no offence. The thoughts you have about Casey made me kind of… scared."

"I'm sorry about that," Mr. Emerald replied. "Welcome to our house, Rosaline. I'm Carlos. This is my wife Emily; my eldest son Michael; the triplets: Jennifer, Isabel, and Casey. And of course you know Alex."

"Dad, let's sit down," Jennifer suggested. Alex led me to the big, white, leather sofa. We sat down next to each other.

"So you know we are vampires," Emily spoke first.

I nodded.

"And you are not afraid?" Isabel was really surprised.

"Well, am I supposed to?" I asked.

"Not technically," Jennifer answered.

"Have you ever met any other immortals?" Carlos asked.

"Yes. Jackson Eyre," I told him.

"And…?" Casey questioned.

"He's a ghost. You and the Eyres are like best friends, right?" I thought Casey knew that.

"Dad, if you will excuse us, I want to take Rose up to my room. Rose wanted some answers." Alex looked at me.

"Why of course. Just be careful," Carlos answered.

We walked up the stairs to the third floor, where two white doors stood on the white wall. It seemed like the Emeralds loved white and black. So far since I stepped into their front doors, all I saw was white, black, and green. The entire house was white and everything in it was white, too. All the Emeralds were wearing black; Carlos was wearing a black suite; Emily with a black dress; Michael and Alex were wearing a black t-shirt and black shorts; the triplets wearing black tank tops and black mini skirts. Even I was wearing black by accident. I was wearing a black tank top and black jeans. How did I end up dressing like this? The little bit of green I saw were the Emeralds' brilliant green eyes.

Alex opened one of the doors for me. "Shall we?" His voice was, as usual, beautiful.

"Thank you," I said as I walked through the door. His room was, of course, white. There was a white bed in a corner of the huge room. On the other side was a white, granite desk with a giant shelf built into the wall behind it. The shelf was full of books of different sizes. The room was neat and tidy, unlike mine. "Wow, nice room," I complemented.

"Thanks," he replied. "Take a seat, please." Alex led me to his white loveseat. "So, what was it that you want to ask me?"

_**Alexander**_

"Tell me about you first," Rose told me. "How did you become a vampire?"

"First, my mom and dad became vampires. Well, Mortal Vampires to be exact. A person becomes a vampire after he or she was bitten by a vampire, mortal or not. Vampires are venomous, so the venom poisons the person and within days, the person's heart stops. For some people, though, they have a kind of immortal gene. The genes will fight the venom. The person either dies or becomes a Mortal Vampire. Carlos and Emily are, well, Mortal Vampires. And the weird thing about us is that we can have kids. So my mom is really my mom, and my dad is really my dad. It's scary to think about it sometimes. Normal vampires can't have kids," I explained.

"Now tell me about Jack," she said.

"Well, Jack is a ghost. And there's nothing much to say about him." My answer was plain and easy.

"Okay," she approved. "Now tell me about me. About Rosemary."

"I thought you already knew," I said.

"I wanted to know more."

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything." Anything. That's easy.

"You have the immortal gene. The gene that turned me into Mortal Vampire. The gene that turned Jackson into a Humanly Ghost. You have it." I'm glad I had something to say. And I'm suddenly happy that she had the immortal gene. The immortal gene is like your personal army, fighting for your body. But the thought about the gene fighting the venom made me shiver. Two days ago, I tried to talk Rose into coming to my house because I wanted to make her into a vampire. I wanted to taste her blood. Human blood was all I wanted. I didn't even know why! I was just searching for someone's blood to drink. But I'm glad Rose didn't come. The thought of her immortal gene fighting my venom was just wrong. She could have died before the venom even spread.

"You were thinking about making me a new-born, aren't you?" She broke my thought bubble.

"Well, last Sunday…"

"No problem. But I never thought you would think that. At least not around me." She looked down. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't. What was wrong with me again?

"So are you going to help me to get my real family to know who I am?" she asked after a long pause.

"Of course I will," I promised.

"Thanks," she said sweetly. Then, she looked at the clock. "I think I better go. Cathy is almost home."

"Um… sure. I'll stay up until I can find a way to help you," I told her.

"You don't have to do that."

"I can survive without sleeping. After all, normal vampires don't sleep, so we can stay up all night, too."

She smiled and said 'thanks' again. Then, we went out of my room.

I was thinking of a way to help her without freaking out her family after Rose left. Cathy would be more than happy to be an only child, so the Sapphires were good. They would go with whatever happened to Rosaline since they don't love her. The Pearls were the hard part.

I was still trying to think out a solution late at night, but I've go nothing. Maybe I would stay up all night, like I had told Rose.


End file.
